Xiaoxiao and Yang Ming followed the Village Chief to look at the lowland plot. Along the way, Xiaoxiao worried about Yang Ming walking too far, "Husband, are you tired?"
In front of the Village Chief, Yang Ming awkwardly smiled and felt a bit embarrassed; a grown man being asked if he was tired, "Not tired."
The three of them arrived at the lowland. Xiaoxiao looked over the area; it seemed like the land hadn’t been farmed in a long time, quite neglected. It didn’t look very low-lying either. If during the rainy season there’s a lot of water, we could completely solve it by digging canals.
Most importantly, the price was half off. Xiaoxiao excitedly said to Yang Ming, "Husband, let’s buy this piece of land."
Yang Ming hadn’t expected that after seeing this piece of land, his wife would really want to buy it. The land’s yield was truly very poor. Could his wife have seen something he hadn’t?
He pulled his wife to the side and asked quietly, "Wife, do you think this piece of land is okay? Did you notice anything?"
"..." Actually, she didn’t know whether it was good or not because she had never farmed. When she was a child, her family farmed, but she never worked in the fields, though she knew a bit of the theory.
"I didn’t notice anything." This was truly the case; she didn’t know how to evaluate it. She just wanted to know where this land was and whether it was far from home.
"..." How did she take a liking to this land without noticing anything, "Wife, do you know how to farm?"
"..." He thought as much. His wife was too delicate, unlike a farmer.
"Perhaps we should think this over; this really isn’t good land."
"Husband, let’s just buy this land. Maybe we’ll be lucky and won’t encounter a year with heavy rain. Even if there are rainy years, then we can dig ditches to redirect the water."
"..." Was this relying on luck for food?
However, his wife’s suggestion about digging ditches to redirect the water was something no one had tried before. If it really could drain the water, the land might indeed be worth buying.
Perhaps their luck wouldn’t be that bad. Seeing that his wife really wanted to buy, Yang Ming agreed. If they really did buy land that yielded nothing, he would apologize to the family.
The Village Chief was waiting on the side. He had no hope at all; it was a terrible piece of land, obviously visible to anyone. No one would buy it.
But if it really got sold, it would greatly benefit him. The plot was a hot potato. If he could get rid of it, it would certainly count as a feather in his cap. He neither wanted Yang Ming to buy it nor hoped it could be sold.
Yang Ming and Xiaoxiao approached the Village Chief, "Uncle Village Chief, we’ve decided to buy this plot of land."
The Village Chief was shocked to hear this but didn’t want to cheat them and reminded them again, "Yang Ming, you better think this through, this isn’t good land."
"Yes, we’ve thought it through. But, Uncle Village Chief, since this land is so poor, could you lower the price a bit, how about 100 silver notes? If we don’t buy it, no one else will."
Upon hearing they really wanted to buy, the Village Chief became somewhat excited; it was after all a hot potato, "Yang Ming, , tomorrow I’ll report this to the government office and see if we can lower the price."
"That would be a great help, Uncle Village Chief."
The next day, the Village Chief showed up, the land deal went through. The thirty-acre lowland was purchased for 100 silver notes. They received the land deed, and the Village Chief, with 100 silver notes in hand, left Yang Ming’s home beaming. He truly had not expected the Yang family to be so wealthy, casually taking out 100 silver notes.